Agents are software programs that perform tasks on a computer system without user intervention. One example set of agents works with a storage environment, each agent running concurrently and performing tasks such as managing driver license levels, configuration files, and databases. An example of such a set of agents is included in EMC Powerpath®; these agents run on Microsoft Windows® as a service.
Conventional agents running as services on Microsoft Windows®, or as daemons in Unix®-type environments, are typically loaded into memory at boot time and are run continuously throughout a user session. For example, agents are loaded into memory as part of the boot sequence and the agents begin performing their respective tasks continually and without user intervention.
Being services or daemons, conventional agents are implemented as executable files. In this way, the conventional agents each occupy their own memory space during their respective runs as services or daemons.